Previously on Drop Point:
Selected for his bloodline, Kyle Carter was recruited to be sent back in time in order to give Luna, Earth’s moon, important information that would stop a deadly 120-year galactic war. Needless to say, the journey was disorienting, and he lost the file in the flux of space-time. Turning up at the Luna base empty handed and without proof, Kyle only managed to prove he really was from the future by telling Luna’s Commander Piott that the file contained information concerning something called the Siren. Commander Piott has set up an appointment for Kyle with Doctor Morris Bradley for as of yet unknown reasons.
Episode Six – Integrate
Kyle stepped out of the hot, steamy shower with a sigh. He secured the white towel around his middle while he dried his air and put on a white cotton shirt, which was emblazoned with the cartoon picture of a silver and red rocket circling the moon. SPACE CAMP ‘29 - HAVE A GREAT SUMMER circled the picture.
Boxer briefs, socks, and a pair of blue jeans hung from a bar, lit up blue-white and floating three feet off the ground, about half a foot from the wall. The wall itself, along with everything that wasn’t glass or metal, was obscenely gleaming white. The walls of the locker room he’d been showering in were steamed up and covered in moisture.
Kyle tried to remember how long he’d been here - it felt like he’d been here for days, but he know that in his personal time, it hadn’t even been two hours from when he first arrived. Actually, he had no clue how long he’d fallen asleep on the ship, but something told him he’d only slept about ten or fifteen minutes.
He pulled the floating bar over towards him, and it lit up white at his touch. He let the towel drop to the floor and slipped on the rest of his clothes. On the other side of the room, beyond a corner, the door to the locker room squealed and he heard footsteps and voices - kids not too much older than him. He slipped on the cotton socks and his sneakers, then tapped a button on the side of the floating bar. The calm blue turned red and it floated into a socket in the wall. The light cut. Kyle felt fresh having just taken a shower and put on new clothes.
A group of five bald kids walked into the locker room. Hair had already started growing back on their scalps, peach fuzz that was shaded, beginning to resemble hair colors. One kid with what looked as if he’d been blonde on Earth studied him with a scowl, and the others fell silent.
The blonde kid, who looked like the unspoken leader of this group, then asked Kyle something.
To put it softly, the general meaning of the question was “Who are you?” although it was spoken quite colorfully.
“Hi, I’m from the future,” Kyle smiled nervously, knowing that although the kid wouldn’t take that very well, he was otherwise unable to explain himself. The kid laughed as if he’d been told a funny rumor. The other boys laughed a bit too, but the leader quickly told them to ‘shut up’ using what his mother would’ve called no-no words. This kid, Kyle thought, was quickly going to turn into Thomas Beggly.
The name Thomas Beggly quickly brought up that feeling Kyle got every once in a while: He could feel his heart pump faster, and he started seeing stars spin around him. The pinpricks of light in his mind got brighter, until they blocked out the scene in front of him and filled eyes with white. Not this again, he thought.
The light disappeared.
Kyle grunted from the force one would experience when being punched in the face. He fell and landed on his side against a building, breathing heavily and clutching his now bleeding nose. A shadow fell over him, and he glanced up.
Shouldering the cold sunlight aside, Thomas Beggly glared down at Kyle, fists clenched, eyes alive with anger. He had a black bowl cut and broad shoulders, covered up with a fur jacket. He snarled and grabbed Kyle by the neck of his own jacket and lifted him back up onto his feet.
“We ain’t done yet, Carter,” he growled - the growling was most likely just for show, as other kids started gathering around them in a circle - and swung his fist again. This time, Kyle was wary and ducked it. With a scrape and a roar, he realized that Thomas had just punched the brick wall of the building.
Thomas swore loudly, then picked Kyle back up straight again.
“Listen, wipe,” his nauseating breath seemed to re-kindle the fire in his eyes. “You make me look like a fool once, you get hurt. Do it twice, you get hospitalized. Do it three times, you get morgued.”
“Morgued isn’t a word, you idiot,” Kyle laughed sorely, and was gifted with knuckle sandwich, unfortunately no more tastier than the last one, slamming the back of his head into the building. He dropped like a life-sized puppet.
Kyle gasped and the light flashed into his eyes again, bringing him back to the present. The kid was looking at him as if Kyle had punched himself in the face.
“Dude, you need help.”
“Yeah, no crap,” one of the lackeys said. The locker room door squealed again, and a sixth kid, looking a year or two younger than the other boys and closer to Kyle’s own age, walked in. He looked really small compared to the other boys, but was about Kyle’s height, and he wore thick glasses. He looked completely unlike a future soldier.
“Hey, it’s Smalls,” said one of the boys, this one slightly thicker than the rest. “Hey, Michael, it’s Smalls,” he said again, touching the blond kid’s shoulder. So now the face had a name: Michael.
“Hey guys,” Smalls mumbled. The rest laughed, and Smalls rubbed his nose and looked at Kyle. “Your hair, it’s grown back already?” he asked.
“Didn’t you hear, kid? This guy’s from the future!” The little group laughed. Smalls looked at Kyle again. “The future?”
Kyle nodded. “Yep. I came back in time to keep you all from being killed, except the file got lost in transit.”
“Lost in transit? What is this, the twenty-first century postal service?” Michael laughed, punching Kyle in the shoulder. “Get outta here,” he waved Kyle and Smalls off, who walked out of the bathroom. Kyle stood outside the locker room, feeling like he’d found a new friend and gained several enemies: this most definitely was military camp all over again.
“So what’s your real name, Smalls?”
“Right. So there’s two things you need to learn about me. One is, my name and memories of my family were completely wiped from my mind in my CryoPod. The techies are fixing it, but until then, my name is Kenny. It’s a code name. The second is, not everyone aboard that ship came to be soldiers. In my case, I’m here for a forensic specialist training, although I’m also good with computers.”
“Good to know,” Kyle nodded. “Nice to meet you Kenny, I’m Kyle,” he offered his hand, and they shook.
“Kyle, we’re ready for you,” said a voice down the hall.
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